Solar telescope operationalised at Udaipur observatory

UDAIPUR: Udaipur Solar Observatory has operationalised a unique telescope 'Multi Application Solar Telescope' ( MAST) for detailed study of solar activities which could facilitate space weather predictions in the future.

The observatory, situated on an island in the middle of Fatehsagar lake, is a part of the Physical Reasearch Laboratory (PRL), an autonomous unit of the Department of Space, which operationalised the telescope recently.

"Unlike other telescopes, MAST is capable to capture three-dimensional aspects of the solar magnetic fields further enabling the scientists to get a better understanding of the solar flares and eruptions taking place in such twisted magnetic fields," according to a release.

Using MAST, the scientists can plan to extend the studies to other layers using multiple spectral line diagnostics. This way they would get a 3-D picture of the phenomena.

"We plan to provide a long-time data base to obtain lasting contributions from MAST on outstanding solar cycle related problems like behaviour of magnetic stresses as a function of the epoch of the solar cycle," said Prof Venkatakrishnan, who led the team of scientists.